PhD requirement: Medical students give FG 2 weeks to resolve NUC, MDCAN feud

The Northern Nigerian Medical Students Association (NNiMSA) has given the federal government and the National Universities Commission (NUC) 14 days ultimatum to withdraw its controversial circular on the new minimum requirement for medical doctors lecturing in the Universities.

Although the students were not categorical about their next line of action should the NUC fail to yield to their call, they however said they are ready to adopt all necessary strategies within the ambits of the law until the issue is settled.

It could be recalled that the NUC had in December last year issued a circular directing all University Vice Chancellors and Registrars, National Postgraduate Medical College not to allow doctors who are not PhD holders to lecture in their respective universities.

Daily Trust learnt that the directive had generated a lot of controversies that led to a nationwide strike by members of the Medical and Dental Consultant’s Association of Nigeria (MDCAN).

The strike action which started on February 23rd, had paralysed academic activities in various universities’ medical colleges across the country.

Addressing newsmen over the development on Thursday in Kano, the National President, NNiMSA, Sen. Khalid Sunusi Kani, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently wade into the matter in order to bring lasting solution to the controversy.

He said just three days into the strike, it has already started taking tolls on their career pursuit, and therefore urged the government to do the needful to resolve the issue before it gets out of hand.

According to him, “As a result of the ongoing strike, our academic activities have come to a standstill. Some of the medical students are writing exams, some are about to start, some are about to resume for new academic session and some are about to graduate and willing to start giving back to their community, society and the country at large.

“We are in the country where all the shuddery and scary epidemiological figures are skyrocketing. The maternal mortality rate is getting higher, insurgency everywhere, endemicity of child under-nutrition is widespread, road traffic accidents are no more once in a blue moon, breast and cervical cancer on the verge of becoming epidemic. With all these, we strongly believe that at this point the country needed us the most” he said.

The chairman, MDCAN AKTH chapter, Dr Muhammed Imam Ibrahim, confirmed that the clinical lectures in the hospital have joined the strike to protest the controversial circular by disengaging from all university activities including teaching, tutorials, bedside and supervision of both internal and external examinations.